Free mortgage payments helped struggling Deltona family

Monday

Dec 31, 2012 at 3:09 PMJan 1, 2013 at 2:52 PM

At first, the gift flabbergasted them: Free mortgage payments for a year.

MARK HARPERSTAFF WRITER

DELTONA — At first, the gift flabbergasted them: Free mortgage payments for a year. The gift a year ago from a Minnesota-based foundation gave the Gout family peace of mind and a chance to deal with the challenges of providing in-home health care for one son diagnosed with a terminal, genetic disorder and grieving the loss of their other son to the same disorder. "We've been able to stay in the house. That's been a blessing," said Debbie Gout. As the year of free payments comes to an end, the family has been able to replace 12-year-old rugs with new flooring, which helps their son's respiratory system, and make Matthew's bathroom handicapped-accessible, she said. The Gradient Gives Back Foundation chooses two families a year. Last year, foundation officials selected the Gouts, covering their mortgage, slightly more than $800 per month including property taxes and insurance. The foundation also provided funds to upgrade the family's heating and air-conditioning system and gave the Gouts access to free financial advice for life. "In 2009, we set up the foundation when the housing market was in utter shambles. This was one way for us to assist individuals when so many people were in foreclosure and had been threatened with losing their homes," said Gretchen Beatty, the foundation's program manager. Scott and Debbie Gout saw their lives turned upside down with the diagnosis in 2004 of both sons, Christopher and Matthew, with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, an uncommon condition affecting the brain, nervous system and muscles. The disorder did not allow Christopher to function beyond that of a normal 6-month-old. Matthew, their now 9-year-old son, has the functionality of a 9-month-old, Debbie Gout said. Christopher died in 2007. Matthew survived a scare in November, when he spent nearly two weeks in a hospital's intensive-care unit, and was able to be home for the holidays. Not having mortgage payments for a year allowed the Gouts to make the home improvements, deal with an overflowing septic tank and keep current with medical bills, Debbie Gout said. The boys were born with the disorder. It was a factor in their premature births, but it took time to be diagnosed, she said. Matthew's life has been up and down. He was able to travel to the Grand Canyon, thanks to another foundation's gift. But he's largely homebound now. In November, when he returned home after 12 days in the hospital intensive-care unit, the family called Hospice and was giving him morphine every two hours. "There was no personality, no reaction to anything but pain," his mother said. "But we got to the point where we weened him off (morphine). He does still need it here and there." Matthew's condition has improved to where he is back to laughing, cooing and making sounds with more eye contact and focus. "He likes to talk," Scott Gout said. The boy needs constant care and monitoring. Although around-the-clock, in-home nurses are currently covered, Debbie Gout said that hasn't always been the case with the family's benefits through Medicaid. At times, that nursing care has been limited to eight-hour days, leaving the burden on his father and, primarily, his mother, to care for him. During the intervening years, Scott Gout lost his longtime job in restaurant management and was forced to start over at a local sandwich shop, where he is now a manager. Debbie Gout quit her telemarketing sales job in 2004 to care for her sons, and the medical bills piled up. The family survived bankruptcy but has had to keep a strict limit on their income so their son can continue qualifying for Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled. Scott Gout said the low income has kept the family from utilizing the financial planning offered through a Winter Park firm, but he hopes to eventually take advantage of it. Yet that is also a day he and his wife dread. "There are different reasons why things happen in life," Debbie Gout said. "This has been presented to us for a reason. Where I'm supposed to take it, what I'm supposed to do when all is said and done, it hasn't been brought to my attention yet. I'm so focused on Matthew now, I'm not sure what direction I might go. ... I'm going to have to pray on it." Beatty, who works with Gradient's award recipients, said her eyes have been opened by stories like the Gouts'. "What I've learned is most of these situations are unplanned and can turn your personal life upside down," she said. "You wind up at the end of every day thanking your lucky stars and wanting to reach out and help others because true community involvement is the way we can help one another."